Bill Cosby’s Jury Selection Set for Next Month

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CN) – Jury selection in Bill Cosby’s criminal sex assault case will begin May 22 in the Alleghany County Court of Common Pleas in Pittsburgh Pa., over 300 miles from where the trial will take place.

In a short, one paragraph order, Montgomery County Judge Steve O’Neill ordered the start of jury selection to begin in late May for 79 year-old Cosby’s trial, set to begin June 5 and could last two weeks.

Dozens of women have come forward in recent years with claims that Cosby drugged and assaulted them, dating back to the 1970s, but the entertainer’s upcoming trial in Pennsylvania marks the only case not barred by the statute of limitations.

Cosby is being prosecuted on Andrea Constand’s claim that he drugged and assaulted her at his Cheltenham home in 2005. Constand met Cosby about a decade ago while working at Temple University where Cosby was a trustee.

Prosecutors do not want Cosby to receive any “special treatment” as indicated in previous pre-trial hearings, however, both parties agree to summon a large group of potential jurors for questioning, to determine 12 jurors and 6 alternates.

Judge O’Neill stated in the most recent March 31st pre-trail hearing, “there will be 7 strikes and 6 alternate jurors [with] an individual strike system under the rules, with Judge only questions.”